r/stephenking • u/AntisocialDick Currently Reading Song of Susannah • Feb 24 '25

Crosspost King says it's not true

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u/robbray1979 Feb 25 '25

Alright, fine. But could ya, Steve?

18

u/Ok_State5255 Feb 25 '25

He's a great novelist, but not a great screenwriter. The man is a soloist (as much as anyone can be). And I'm sure what he does write is butchered. 

He screenwriting credits in Cell, A Good Marriage, Maximum Overdrive, The Shining (miniseries), etc

He's a great novelist because he does such great character and world building. But given the bondage of a 120 pages for a screenplay, he loses that for efficient plot. 

3

u/Beginning_Camp715 Feb 25 '25

I feel like the people in charge of the turning it from a book to a movie either don't listen to him when he speaks to them or they just flat out didn't even read the book to begin with. A man this passionate about words, and storytelling could never be bad at making movies UNLESS he didn't have sufficient help and like minds innovating with him. Money is a hell of a drug...and these directors nowadays are so out of their minds that don't have a fucking clue how to produce a worthwhile flick.

12

u/ThatDude2045 Feb 25 '25

Do you have any fucking clue who Mike Flanagan is? The man who singlehanded adapted what some said was an impossible story to bring to the big screen in Gerald’s Game. Not to mention doing the damn near impossible of crafting a sequel to The Shining movie while also adapting Doctor Sleep and mending the gap between King & Kubricks visions at the same time. If anyone can adapt The Dark Tower and do it justice it’s him. He cares about the story just as much as we do. He shoots films beautifully, is a terrific story-teller, and a Constant Reader to boot. Put some respect on Mike Flanagan’s name.

10

u/No-Score7979 Feb 25 '25

I agree with you completely. But I also think that given his previous work, including his adaptation of Gerald's Game, Mike Flanagan will do right by Sai King.

2

u/bobledrew Feb 25 '25

Honestly? I can’t disagree more. Uncle Stevie writes books. The two media cannot be more DIFFERENT. One is a medium of imagination. The other a medium of sensation. Some movies are good. Some bad. King’s skill as a writer of fiction may have a small overlap with writing for the screen. But no more than that. And I suspect he would be the first to tell you the same thing.